Eli5: Why are so many office blocks and retail shops in UK that are ” to let” remain empty for months, rather than to reduce rent ? Why do landlords do this?
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I cannot answer your question, but I sympathize with the sentiment. 15+ years ago I got one of my first jobs at a little food store in a mall in my home town. The place was vacant 2/3 of the time….terrible space, easy to pass, etc. No place managed more than 1 year. It was vacant for nearly 2 years prior to the place I worked moving in…the one and only. I loved the owners. We did pretty good in the 1.5+ years I worked there. We had a good stable base income, as we were popular with other mall employees, and were gaining more and more traction. They were considering opening up another store in another city and offered to put me up for a couple weeks to train new folks when the time came. Then, out of the blue, the mall increased their rent by 50%. No warning, just renewing their lease. They closed shortly after. I kept working at that mall (quite literally in the store next door), and in 3 years no one moved into it. Such an absolute waste.
I have always suspected that the people pulling the strings on such decisions simply do not have their ears to the ground.
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